I couldn't care less what public perception is. The balls behave beautifully, if people don't like it, F em. Why does it even need to grow? It's never going away, it's not dead. Do we care if marketers make money from it? I sure don't. As long as there is good cloth available every few years for replacement I'm good. I'd like more people to find and enjoy the beauty of the game but that starts locally.
Stories are an almost criminally ignored aspect of pool but no one wants to make it happen. I'd wager almost every pro could have a bio pic made of their story. There could be a reality show without any kind of clickbaity type shit and it could potentially be the most interesting thing on television for even a casual audience.