Vape and tech hardware brand CCELL appointed Angela Pih as Global Chief Brand Officer earlier this year, signaling a new chapter for both Pih’s career and CCELL’s image. Pih, who entered the cannabis space in 2019 as Papa & Barkley’s CMO, has wasted no time familiarizing herself with the ins and outs of the industry—from branding and marketing to manufacturing and product innovation all the way to retail and the consumer experience. Five years later, and she shows no signs of stopping.
Pih’s new role at CCELL marks first her first time working in the ancillary, or non-plant touching side of things. The creative title reflects the multi-faceted nature of her work and allows her to explore the unknowns and set new standards. As she states in the interview below, “One of the three things that excites me is doing something that hasn’t been done before. In our ecosystem of cannabis, there’s more allowance for that.”
CCELL entered the market in 2016 with their innovative cannabis hardware and tech. They’re the first company to bring a reliable solution for vape cartridges with their ceramic core. But just like Pih, the CCELL brand continues to push the limits of what’s possible. With factories in China, Indonesia and the US, and over 100 PhD scientists on their team, CCELL is dedicated to staying in front of product innovation and reinvests 10% of revenue annually into R&D. A massive, global brand with the capacity to produce up to 33 million vapers per month, it’s safe to say the demand is there.
CCELL has undoubtedly been a strong, behind-the-scenes leader. Now, with Pih’s help, the company is stepping center stage to show off some personality as they hope to become a more visible partner within the cannabis community. It’s no longer just about the R&D.
Cannabis Now CEO Eugenio Garcia checked in with Pih to see how things are going in this exciting new position, and what we can look forward to as Pih reintroduces CCELL to the world.
Cannabis Now: Angela, thank you for joining me today. First off, can you tell us, ‘Why cannabis?’ I know you have a marketing background and some people come in and out of different industries, but how have you picked cannabis to be the focus at this moment in your professional journey?
Angela Pih: Well I’m so excited for this conversation, and I love that question. The answer is, ‘Cannabis found me.’ And I’m really grateful that the skill set that I was able to bring into the industry complements this particular stage of where we are as an industry. I really see us in sort of like the second inning, so to speak. We’ve kind of gone through the first inning, we’re actually in the second inning, and there’s still more innings to go in terms of where the cannabis industry is growing and how it’s developing.
And to be in this industry—to be a part of this very resilient community—is something I feel very passionate about. I grew up with plant medicine my entire life, so I believe in plant remedies. I believe in looking at a more all-encompassing way of finding wellness and well-being in terms of how we can live our lives better.
CN: So it’s a bit of a mission-driven, professional career path for you.
AP: Yes, passion and purpose are very important to me. When people ask me, “Why do you do the things that you do?” I tell them three things: The first is the ability to do something that’s not been done before—that’s around innovation. The second is building really strong brands and sustainable brands—meaningful brands that have purpose. And then third is building high performance teams.
CN: So you’re now a couple of months into this new endeavor at CCELL, and you’re already wearing several hats. What are they, exactly?
AP: Well, obviously, the first hat or the primary hat is chief brand officer at the global level representing CCELL. The second one is being the spokesperson—being able to articulate what is CCELL, what are our innovation stories, who are the people behind the company, and how do I connect with all of our audiences and customers. And then the third hat is being the lead person on our key account team.
CN: I know that every day is different and exciting, but are you spreading out the focus equally among these different roles?
AP: I see the spokesperson part of my role as being complementary to being the Chief Brand Officer because having the opportunity to articulate our story, to be able to build our brand from being a group of people behind a logo and to make it tangible, on a human basis, I think is really important. I find that really inspiring.
In terms of being in the brand role, we’re at this interesting stage of the company where it’s transitioning from being a component or hardware company to actually being a brand. So, for me as a marketing professional, it’s a very exciting time to be involved. Think about it: How does a technology company become a brand? We’ve seen many examples of this over the decades with Apple, Samsung and many consumer electronics brands. So how do we do that in the cannabis space? Again, one of the three things that excites me is doing something that hasn’t been done before. In our ecosystem of cannabis, there’s more allowance for that.
CN: Absolutely. In the space right now, there’s not a lot of emotional connection to any brands, let alone hardware or technology brands. How important is it for brands of the future in cannabis to have a leader or a face behind the brand? So, let’s say if you are the Steve Jobs of CCELL, is that important for CCELL to invest in, and is that critical for brand recognition?
AP: I would articulate it this way: Cannabis brands have a lot of founder personality that’s intertwined with their brand personality. We know many brands that are intrinsically and inextricably tied to who the founder is. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, it doesn’t matter. We’re just saying that the founder is the personality of the brand, and then that’s how that brand becomes known within our industry.
And then, in terms of like Apple with Steve Jobs, yes, I think that’s another example that’s outside of cannabis, where you have a founder-led type brand. But I feel we’ve kind of progressed from that as a society, where the founder isn’t necessarily the driving force.
I think, as people, we do business with people…so I feel that the personality of a brand needs to be shared. One of the things that I’m a huge advocate of, and I try to talk to many brands about this, is that your brand identity and who you are as a brand needs to be lived on the inside, before it’s loved on the outside.
CN: It has to be authentic.
AP: Absolutely. So, then I think we as representatives, or people who wear CCELL on our jersey, have to be the ones who are living that—that spirit, that mission of the CCELL brand. I feel that this is a push where it’s not about CCELL. It’s how CCELL can help the consumer have a really great experience.
One of the positioning and messaging that I feel CCELL is really well suited for is that CCELL has been in the core of the cannabis movement since 2016. We’ve been quietly in the background, enabling and powering the cannabis industry through the vape category. Before CCELL, there really wasn’t a reliable, quality hardware that the industry could rely on. And having that opportunity to be able to work with the industry leaders of bringing the best products to market really fueled that exponential growth for the vape category. For the first time, you had a high-quality, reliable product or technology that your brand can rely on, and the consumers then can experience.
CN: Right. And many consumers may not even realize CCELL is the manufacturer of their favorite vape since it has another company’s branding on…
AP: Being at that core of the movement is something that CCELL has been quietly doing and not really being boastful about. It’s a very humble company. It’s very product driven; it’s very committed to engineering. A lot of times these types of stories don’t really get shared because they don’t talk about themselves very much. So, with my roles being so new to CCELL, I see actually being able to share that with our community, to be able to demonstrate that by making it more tangible.
CN: CCELL’s mission, according to the corporate culture website says, “The mission is advancing global wellness through science and technology.” With the word ‘wellness,’ people sometimes claim that vaping flower is healthier or less pressure on your lungs. Does vaping oil have a better health experience for the consumer than maybe taking bong hits or large amounts of flower?
AP: I can’t speak to whether vapes are better. I think it’s a consumer’s choice in terms of how they want to experience cannabis. We do have the most rigorous R&D to make sure that all our products are of the highest quality with the least fail rate. Our cartridges are rarely returned. And then we do a lot of testing within our labs, both from a safety standpoint to inhalation to clouds and puffs depending on what consumers are looking for. If they’re looking for a lot of cloud, then we can dial our products to be able to give you that type of an experience just with the draw.
CN: Some tech can give you lots of cloud, and some tech can be almost incredibly discreet?
AP: Yes, you can actually calibrate and dial that. And then in terms of product safety, the R&D research that we conduct continuously is to look at degradation of the components as well. So you want to make sure that it’s not degrading into the medium. In terms of the hardware tech, we’re also very stringent about our patents to make sure they’re current. All of our factories are cGMP and GMP and ISO-certified. So, these are really super, super clean and of the highest quality cleanliness in terms of how they’re manufactured.
CN: Tell me about the intersection of craft, tech and community. How does CCELL play into this?
AP: Oh, I love this. You know, I’m all about connecting the dots, right? So for us, we’re committed to being at the core of our cannabis community. We are providers and innovators of technology. But we have that symbiotic relationship and an inseparable relationship with brands who are making the best oils, who are extracting the best rosin. We cannot stand alone as just a technology innovator. We have to work in conjunction with operators, extractors and craft makers who want to bring the best expression of the plant to the consumer and to have the best vaping experience.
In a way, when you when you spoke about Steve Jobs and Apple, Apple isn’t just about technology for technology’s sake. It’s about understanding how technology impacts lifestyle and how technology makes it easier for you not to have to be a geek to get the things that you want done. So that’s where technology innovation really matters because it has that purpose of being a solutions provider, but also within a lifestyle type of context.
CN: A lot of people’s lifestyles are moving towards sustainable, organic, good-for-the-planet, good-for-your-soul, etc. Where is CCELL with its corporate responsibility, its environmental awareness? A lot of the hardware is disposable. Have you guys thought about that?
AP: I love this question too, because we have made several impactful, earth-friendly and sustainable endeavors, both from our manufacturing standpoint, the products that we’re bringing to market and what we continue to do. With some of our new technology, we’re able to actually reduce our energy consumption by 35 percent. This is with our EVOMAX technology. We also launched the Eco Star this year, which is biodegradable, and compost biodegradable within 12 weeks.
CN: Wow. Really?
AP: Yeah. So, the only thing that’s not biodegradable is the metal stem, which that could be recycled, but the entire casing is biodegradable in 12 weeks. And then the third part of that of that question is we’re also looking at ways in which we can work with different companies to take hardware and recycle them. So from the recycling standpoint to our eco-friendly store, and also in terms of minimizing energy usage by 35 percent.
CN: What is the company’s awareness of the future of the cannabis industry, not only here in the US, but globally? Are we getting closer to legalization on a federal level? I know we have the rescheduling potential that’s coming. Are we just scratching the surface here of a much larger global expression of cannabis? Or Are we mid-game?
AP: As an industry, we’re in the second inning. And we’re in the early stages. I feel that being a long-term partner and looking at the future and not looking for short-term gains is going to be more favorable and much more in concert of relationships and what’s best for the community, both here in the US and globally. And that means on the short term being servicing and giving consumers what they want, and meeting the customers where they are. And then second, looking ahead in terms of product innovation and technology innovation—what’s going to help make things better?
CN: We’re in the dog days of summer and then we’re going go right into Q4, which is always insane in the cannabis space. What’s on your mission list and your vision board for the next three to six to 12 months for your team at CCELL?
AP: Well, in terms of short term, I’m basically relaunching the CCELL brand. That will be a bit of a debut of Who is CCELL, What’s the new brand identity, our purpose in terms of being the core of the cannabis movement. We’ll be heading off to CHAMPS in Las Vegas to speak to a wider audience…There’s going to be a significant gathering every single month until December. So, we’re going to be showing up. And this is something that’s important for CCELL. Again, coming out of just being hidden within components to being more visible as a brand and as a strategic partner. We’re going to be very, very visible for the next six months.
CN: Good for you. Final question: Are there any nonprofits you’re currently working with? Or do you have the desire to work with any groups in the future?
AP: We have had some contributions and partnerships with veterans and veteran organizations. But that area of giving back of being “of the community” is something that I’m going to be guiding us forward as well.
CN: Recently, a lot of executives have been coming to me saying, “Hey, we don’t know where to put our philanthropy.” There seems to be a real lack of nonprofit-focused cannabis activity right now.
AP: That has been the case more recently, because so many brands are so cash dropped that they’re just trying to survive. So that’s more of a market dynamic. For us, in terms of giving back to the community, in terms of supporting brands by investing in brands and their business to help them be competitive—to help them do well—is something that we’re going to have a lot more conversations around.
CN: Awesome. Well, Congratulations. Is there anything else that you’d like to say before we end the conversation?
AP: We’ve covered a lot of ground here. I would say in terms of my role at CCELL and what the company is really looking to do is to feel that tangible support for cannabis brands, and how can we be empowering and show up in different ways—not just with innovative technology, and not just with investment, but really helping our brands succeed, to be competitive, and be a huge support. As you know, I’m a huge believer in competition. We want our industry to do well, and we want each other to succeed. We’re going to be looking at ways and how we can be really strong strategic partners, for our customers who are big or small.
CN: Thank you. Yes, rising tides raise all ships as they say.
AP: One hundred percent.
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