Procter & Gamble is redoubling its attention on Mommy bloggers as it steps up its ad budget. The company has announced that it was raising global ad spending 8%, or more than $700 million, to $9.3 billion, for the fiscal year. That is an all-time record both in absolute terms and as a share of sales for the company, Ad Age reports.

One of the initiatives under way, according to a separate report in Mediapost, is a year-long program with BlogHer called “Life Well Lived.” It will include both a P&G-sponsored hub at BlogHer.com and specific product engagement opportunities for 10 or so P&G brands, the publication reports.

Bloggers will lead discussions focusing on new P&G products. P&G will also have a presence at BlogHer conferences around the country. It is the first one-year partnership that BlogHer has signed, BlogHer president and CEO Lisa Stone tells Marketing Daily.

Price Increases Overlooked?

The campaign will - hopefully from P&G’s perspective - remediate some of the price increases in its many products expected this year. Right now its competitors are also raising prices so P&G is not seeing that much of an impact, CFO Jon Moeller told Ad Age. "We believe innovation wins decades and promotion affects quarters.”

Moms Online

P&G is well aware of where its buying constituency is, as its new venture with BlogHer suggests. A little more than one in three moms use personal blogs, according to according to data collected in January 2011 by Lucid Marketing. Some 36% use Twitter and more than 20% use MySpace.

However it is Facebook and email that are the two dominant forms of online communication used by mothers, the study also said - with slightly more than nine in 10 moms using Facebook (93%) and email (91%) to communicate. Not surprisingly, P&G has those covered as well.