Separate the definitions of “industrial design” from those of “public relations”, “self-promotion”, “advertising”, and “lifestyle marketing” and you will find that the basic job description is still the making and doing and figuring out and behind-the-scenes trench warfare.
The glamour comes in when the likes of Dwell or FastCo or flashy clients attempt to fetishize the designer or design firm. Some people crave this, and for some firms its a business model (often to the detraction of doing solid product development work).