Maybe I'm the one that's confused here, and you can shed some light on the situation, but it's my understanding that the companies you named off function completely independently, but are distributed through QBP. I think of it in terms of the music industry. Subsidiary labels distribute through their big name major label parents to get their product more out there than they could themselves; just like DIY bands pay for their own recordings, but have their music distributed by independent labels, who can do a better job of getting their music heard. The smaller label and DIY bands don't have the time/means necessary to offer things to a large market, and that's where their labels come in. Just like Surly, Salsa, etc. Their focus is on their bicycles, not marketing, that's QBP's business. I don't read bicycle magazines or anything, but to be fair, I've never seen a Surly or Salsa ad before.

People saying that Surly has some crazy grass-roots, "anti-marketing," marketing philosophy are insane. All of the Surly praise I've heard has been word of mouth, not some huge three page spread in a bike magazine, or all over the internet. If their bikes were bad, they wouldn't be popular. Period. Surly makes steel bikes for a good price. You'd be hard-pressed to find an equal-quality, name branded/backed, steel frame anywhere for the same price.