Hi Baris,
What a great topic! I think that branding is an essential element of marketing activities. I am learning more about branding every day. The buzz words we hear most in our business are "name branding" and "name recognition."
As far as "How Branding Can Drive the Success of Your Marketing," I think that branding is an integral part of your marketing and also has its own "marketing" focus. It's not really separate. It's like calling the chicken's wing a wing, but it's still part of the chicken. We are talking about everything from the beginning to the end of the customer's experience with your name and products. If the chicken analogy holds up, which I think it does for this, you would say you have the wing; then there is the dermis, the muscle, the tendons, the bone, and even the microscopic cells, cell structure, and so on. Chicken meat is also different if it's been frozen, by the way.
In other words, all marketing activity includes your brand, and there are many levels and variables to consider but to keep it simple this morning, some activities are focused more on immediate sales versus branding, which promotes long-term sales. For example, you can do direct advertising, which is intended to generate a sale; however, that does little for your branding. Then on the other end of the spectrum, you can set up a scholarship for smart underprivileged children that would not generate an immediate sales cycle but will strengthen your brand name and long term sales volume for generations.
There is a book called Tested Methods in Advertising written by John Caples that I recommend. Additional things to consider are customer life cycles, product development, frequency, market reach, and having an integrated approach with multiple touchpoints. Before you start thinking about those, you have to nail down who your customers are, their demographic, and the best appeal.
I am interested in hearing what others think.