NEW YORK: Advertisers such as PepsiCo, Sara Lee and Wal-Mart are seeking to enhance their profile with "mommy bloggers", who are regarded as an increasingly vital target audience in the US.

BlogHer, a specialist web service specifically for this demographic, is running a conference for 2,400 attendees in August, and has secured the support of around 100 companies to date.

These firms include Kraft, Pillsbury and Hershey's in the food category, automaker Chevrolet, telecoms provider T-Mobile, Hallmark cards and healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson.

Hillshire Farm and Jimmy Dean, two deli brands owned by Sara Lee, have signed on as "Diamond Sponsors" of the confab.

Laston Charriez, vice president of consumer and shopper activation, Sara Lee North American Retail, argued this approach gives it a chance to connect with "online female influencers".

"[This is] a unique opportunity to engage face-to-face with virtually all of the top female bloggers, the voices that are driving the conversation and shaping the social media landscape," said Charriez.

"This event is the perfect platform to fuel brand awareness and further a dialogue among these critical audiences as well as gather valuable insights directly from the bloggers themselves."

PepsiCo, the food and beverage manufacturer, is to build a "Studio" at the venue in New York, holding interviews and panel discussions as well as allowing visitors to post their feedback to the web.

Quakers, Propel, Gatorade and Tropicana are a selection of the brands which are set to benefit from these efforts to reach out to what the company has described as a "5G Network".

"We recognise women as the '5G Network', a powerful group of professionals, moms and daughters who are not only driving business results  ... but who also are driving social change," Julie Hamp, PepsiCo's svp, communications, said.

"BlogHer is an opportunity for us to hear from some of the most influential of that 5G Network on issues that matter to them most, including the evolution of social media."

Procter & Gamble is another corporation that will have a major presence at the conference, in a bid to display the advantages of its portfolio, which houses assets like Downy, Tide, Pantene, Olay and Crest.

As previously reported, P&G was recently on the receiving end of negative electronic word of mouth from certain elements of this community after the launch of Pampers Dry Max.

Elsewhere, Wal-Mart's "booth space" will champion its activity in the field of sustainability, asking moms to record their own videos, which will be uploaded to its YouTube channel and a page on its web portal.

Data sourced from BlogHer; additional content by Warc staff