Can brands step back into the void left by influencers and celebrities?

Have you noticed that with a crisis and a focus on key workers and health, influencers and celebrity have become less important?  Did you notice that the products and services they endorsed, prompted and demanded you trust are not on your essential list? Did you notice that you did not notice that they were not there?

Brands had definitely given ground, in terms of who the consumer turned to first, to social media influencers as we’re finding that the marketing KPI gave better value.  However, we also knew that whilst cheaper and somewhat more effective in terms of income generation per pound spent, this new middle person had also removed brands direct reach.

The question, do or can brands step back into a direct relationship with consumers, do they want to and what would it mean?   Many did not have data on consumers and used social influences as a way to get data they could not imagine about their users, but has that access channel to the data been broken and where do brands turn to to get user data?