...the marketing team seems like a tight arse bunch to me. ...
I can't speak for today, but as of four years ago their sales/marketing department was pretty damn awesome.
I was working on a book for McGraw-Hill and got in contact with Tek, to see if they would lend me some equipment to help (and obviously be featured) in said book. They actually *gave* me a bunch of brand new Tek and Keithley gear, including a scope, AFG, DMM, power supply and more. (This was all top of the line, current model stuff, too.)
Afterward I would occasionally get other little marketing promos in the mail as well (I got a really cool Tek shirt in the mail a few years ago; also a little rubber model of the MDO3000 that splits apart and turns into a USB drive).
Out of 7 of the companies I contacted (Keysight, Lecroy, etc.) only three ever responded and of those three only Tek ever followed through. Though, to be fair, someone who worked for Tek (I believe it was w2ae) put me in touch with a specific person in the right department, so that might have helped things significantly; I didn't have contacts at the other companies so it was just an email to whatever address I could find on their site.
Anyway, that significantly colored my perception of Tek and is why I still think they're pretty cool.
(Though in the last year or so it is getting harder to recommend their scope products on the low to mid end of the range; AgiSight is beating the pants off them there lately. Tek's USB SAs, standalone SAs, VNAs and AWG/AFG products are still top notch though and I've talked a couple of companies I've done consulting work for into buying one.)