Hey Brian, you are right actually. I believe most of us are planning to use it in our welcome email and more importantly, custom email mailers. The custom mailers are when we send special updates like product launches, exclusive offers, etc.. and that's when having a custom name gives that special touch and is crucial in increasing response rate. Custom name is part of the customized experience we want to deliver to our readers/customers.

This is also how the users of Aweber are using their custom name function too. I subscribe to sites like Problogger.net and A List Blogging who use Aweber, and their regular blog posts are sent as per normal while special launches are sent with the custom names.