It depends on how you look at it.
Cigarette certainly benefitted by the association with Don's larger-than-life presence. But a successful company like NorTech- the owners are pretty much out of the public eye. For alot of years, Wellcraft sold a ton of Scarabs with no individual association. There are probably tons of other examples to be had, either way.
In the case of Fountain... Reggie spent as much time being the brand as he did building the boat's brand. If someone else had taken the company over, they'd have probably been making a mistake to not keep some association with Reggie. At the same time, my guess is that one out of ten Fountain owners really knows that the company has gone through some changes in the last couple years. Just as I'm sure there are Cig owners out there that thing Don is still building them on 188th.
I know one thing, if I were the guy occupying the Fountain factory today, I'd want Reggie's luck on my side.