When I say (and, I think, the author) "image the company projects," I mean by marketing. If their marketing said the company was run by angry iguanas, then it would be accurate to say they project an image of being run by angry iguanas, regardless of the truth.
Does their marketing project open? I've never seen that. I have seen millions of people wondering what product was going to ship at the next wwdc, and all of the crazy (sometimes legally enforced) silence around that.
