It’s pretty obvious why Rubbermade is losing out: it looks sterile while the Koala Kare one has a cute little koala graphic on it. I bet it wins out in the market entirely thanks to that graphic.
That stuff is basically useless and no other brand has the issues they claim to solve in their ads. It's the kind of propaganda you'd expect from a cult.
They are proven as reliable for 10-15 Years, at many places. Strong brand.
They are focused on that niche, unlike other.
Those are pretty good advantages.
Like, just make a damn product, make it well and to last, and sell a damn product for a reasonable price and shock of shocks, you'll get pretty far.
That's why aesthetics are so critical. Logos are a big deal, but few people want to spend money on a real commercial artist, designing one.
It's probably the most important graphic that a corporation will ever have, and often looks ridiculously simple (at least, the good ones do).
I used to work for GE, and we had a whole set of binders, instructing us on the proper use of the GE "Meatball" logo.
Aesthetics also goes into things like UX design. Branding is a really holistic endeavor, and many techies don't get that, at all.