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In late 1999, Delhi's autorikshaws started sporting dotcom bumper stickers. During the same time, Mumbai's skyline was changing with dotcom hoardings. Full-page ads of the dotcoms could be seen in almost every leading newspaper. From print, to electronic and outdoor media, the dotcom companies flooded the market with high budget ads, contests, and interactive campaigns. During 1999-2000, Indiainfo1 spent Rs 44 million2 every month on advertisements in print and electronic media. Satyam Online3 planned to spend around Rs 200 million by the end of 2000. In early 2000, Indya.com4 released a front-page ad campaign in The Sunday Times of India5, in Delhi. According to market sources, the advertisement cost more than Rs 30 million.
During October 1999-January 2000, about Rs 500 million was spent on advertising by the dotcom companies (Refer Table 1 for the break-up). Analysts felt that in the next six months, another Rs 500 million would be spent.
While the average retailer spent about 5-8% of its total revenue on advertising and the average manufacturer 15-18%, dotcoms were spending more than 25% of its revenues on promotions. Analysts felt that the huge amount spent on advertising was to make a mark in the people's minds. Commented Suman Srivastava, Director, Euro-RSCG, "What most net companies have been doing so far is concentrating on traffic: their advertising has been geared towards generating trials."
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