• The New York Times, Monday, November 20, 2006 11:15 AM

Good Housekeeping magazine is undergoing a broad-based effort to overhaul the image of its century-old brand. Its biggest selling point is years of accumulated trust, based on the Good Housekeeping Research Institute and its seal that certifies that advertisers can pass its tests.

The seal was first introduced in 1909, when there was little regulatory oversight of consumer products. The phrase "of approval" is not officially part of the name, but it became part of the American vernacular. With time however, the seal's profile has ebbed.

An updated version of the magazine's test lab opened last month in a glassy new tower in midtown Manhattan built by the Hearst Corporation, which owns the magazine. Boasting advanced analytical equipment, it occupies about 17,000 square feet of space. Devoting that amount of prime real estate to a testing lab "suggests very clearly the equity that the brand has with the Hearst Corporation," says publisher Patricia Haegele.

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