If you’ve spent any time in radio sales, you know this story: A client tells you, “We love radio, but we just don’t know if it’s working.”
For decades, that uncertainty has been radio’s Achilles’ heel. We’ve always known radio drives results—foot traffic, phone calls, local buzz—but “knowing” and “proving” are two different things. In the digital era, advertisers want dashboards, attribution, and hard numbers.
Enter Validate, Coleman Insights’ new audio attribution platform. It’s giving radio the one thing it’s lacked for years: proof.
Recently, I sat down with Rob Babin, President of Radio at Cox Media Group (CMG), and Scott Kellum, General Sales Manager of CMG’s Atlanta radio stations, to talk about how Validate has transformed the way their teams sell, service, and think about radio advertising. Their insights weren’t just smart—they were downright inspiring.
What follows is a summary of our conversation. Click here or see below to view a 15-minute video of the conversation.
The Industry’s “Prove It” Moment
Before jumping into the Cox experience, Rob offered context that should make every radio executive nod in recognition.
Radio, he explained, has always worked—it builds trust, delivers massive reach, and drives sales. But in today’s marketing world, belief isn’t enough.
“Advertisers need to see data,” Rob said. “They need modern tools that show radio’s ROI just like digital platforms do.”
As head of the RAB’s Data and Measurement Committee, Rob helped rally broadcasters around the need for credible, industry-wide attribution. “The leaders in radio all know it works,” he continued, “but now we have to prove it—with modern data that captures the entire consumer journey, not just a seven-minute window.”
That’s what drew Cox to Validate. Unlike traditional digital-style attribution tools, which measure only short bursts of activity, Validate follows consumer behavior while a radio campaign runs and for 90 days afterwards. It shows how exposure to a radio campaign can lead to web visits, form fills, and purchases long after the ad first aired. It’s the kind of proof advertisers crave—and radio has been missing.
Atlanta Takes the Leap
When Validate launched, Cox Media Group didn’t just dip a toe in the water—they cannonballed right in. Atlanta became the test market, and Scott volunteered to be the guinea pig.
“At first,” Scott admitted, “there was a little hesitation. New software always brings that.”
But once his sales team saw Validate’s dashboard—tracking listeners all the way from hearing an ad to visiting a website or filling out a form—the skepticism evaporated. “It was like the floodgates opened,” Scott said. “Suddenly, we were having digital-style conversations with our clients—about conversions, form fills, cost per visit. It completely changed the dialogue.”
Validate didn’t just help prove value to advertisers—it reshaped the way Cox’s marketing consultants in Atlanta sell. The team began A/B testing creative, comparing how different versions of ads influenced response rates. They started analyzing performance by category, discovering which radio formats worked best for home improvement, lawyers, or other verticals.
“It’s transparency,” Scott explained. “We can now tell clients exactly how radio is driving their business.”
From Skeptics to Superfans
Scott shared two stories that illustrate just how game changing Validate has been.
The first involved a local home-improvement company that had never advertised on radio before. After a 60-day campaign that included an on-air endorsement, Validate showed a doubling of new business appointments—from about 60 to 120 per week at one location.
“Validate proved that our endorsement spots drove faster website visits than standard branding ads,” Scott said. “That changed everything—for the client and for us.”
The second story was about a pool and spa retailer that had pulled its radio advertising, frustrated by the lack of attribution data. Around Labor Day, they agreed to run a short test campaign. Validate captured every click, form fill, and trade-in inquiry that followed—and the client came back on the air immediately.
“They finally saw proof,” Scott said. “We could tell them exactly how many people went to their site, how many filled out a form, how many scheduled appointments. That was the turning point.”
Cox Media Group’s Scott Kellum and Rob Babin discuss how Validate has positively impacted radio sales efforts in Atlanta
A Cultural Shift Inside the Building
When asked how his team adjusted to Validate, Rob laughed. “You know you’ve got a winner,” he said, “when senior AEs are running their own reports before you even ask.”
That enthusiasm spread fast. Validate turned long-tenured sellers—people who had spent decades relying on relationships and gut instinct—into data evangelists.
“They were pumped,” Rob recalled. “For the first time, they could walk into a client meeting with proof that radio moved the needle.”
Scott agreed. “When you’ve got your managers and sellers logging in on their own to pull data, you know the software is good,” he said. “Validate has become part of the way we do business.”
Learning by Doing
Of course, no rollout is perfect. Scott admitted that his team initially underestimated the importance of event tagging—the process of placing Validate’s conversion tags on client websites to capture form fills and lead activity.
“Once we figured that out, the insights became even more powerful,” he said. “You can see which ads are actually prompting people to take action.”
Now, the Atlanta team uses Validate not just to measure campaigns but to optimize them—refining creative, adjusting station mixes, and proving which formats yield the lowest cost per visit.
“It’s like putting a magnifying glass on your creative,” Scott said. “Validate shows what’s working and what’s not—and that’s gold.”
Not a Competition—a Collaboration
One of the most refreshing parts of the conversation was hearing both Rob and Scott emphasize that Validate isn’t about competing with other radio groups.
“This is an industry tool,” Rob said. “If we all use it, we all win. It helps radio claim its fair share of ad budgets in a digital-first world.”
Scott echoed the sentiment: “Validate doesn’t make one team look better than another. The only competition is which sales team uses it best. The real goal is to help every client see the full value of radio.”
The Bigger Picture
For Cox Media Group, Validate isn’t just software, it’s part of a cultural evolution.
Rob put it best: “We need to modernize how we sell and how we report ROI. Our over-the-air audiences are huge. When you combine that with data-driven proof, there’s no stronger local media platform out there.”
Validate is giving radio what it’s long deserved: measurable, defensible evidence of its impact—and, perhaps even more importantly, a renewed sense of pride among those who sell it.
Final Word
As the interview wrapped, Rob and Scott reflected on how much has changed in just a few months. The Atlanta team is now leading by example, CMG’s Long Island stations are gearing up to be the next Validate users in the company, and the excitement is spreading.
“It’s nice to have that power back in radio,” Scott said. “To walk into a client meeting and say, Here’s what we delivered for you—no ifs, ands, or buts.”
For an industry that’s always thrived on connection and storytelling, Validate is the perfect next chapter—one where the story is told in both emotion and numbers.
