Hudson Square BID needed to do something most civic organizations struggle with: get people to care about a neighborhood update.
Annual meeting videos are usually built to inform stakeholders, recap progress, and check a box. But Hudson Square was not trying to feel like another nonprofit district report. It was trying to build a neighborhood people could name, recognize, and feel proud of.
For the past two and a half years, Six+One had been helping the BID rebrand Hudson Square from a gray, overlooked former Printing District into a bright, witty, creative neighborhood with a real personality. The district sits between SoHo, Tribeca, and the West Village, but for years it got lost in the shadow of its more famous neighbors.
The objective for the long-form video was to make the BID’s progress feel entertaining, not institutional. We needed to showcase real civic improvements, public-space upgrades, neighborhood growth, and community momentum in a way people would actually want to watch.
So instead of making an annual recap, we treated Hudson Square like a product launch.
HSQ 3.0: The Trapezoid became a parody tech announcement for the latest and greatest version of the neighborhood, using humor to turn civic progress into a story of upgrades, features, and ridiculous-but-true neighborhood benefits.
The goal was simple: make the annual update feel as distinct as the neighborhood brand itself.
The strategy was to take everything people usually expect from an annual report video and do the opposite.
No stiff narration. No corporate montage. No slow piano track. No “look how much we accomplished” voiceover that makes everyone check their phone.
Hudson Square had already been built as a living brand: bold, colorful, funny, and unmistakably New York. Trash cans had become canvases for lines like “Bin there, dumped that” and “Now accepting Tribeca trash.” Light-pole banners had given the district a sharper voice with lines like “Chelsea? I don’t know her. This is Hudson Square.” The video needed to come from that same brand world.
That is where HSQ 3.0: The Trapezoid came from.
The neighborhood’s actual trapezoid-shaped footprint had already become a core part of the visual identity. For the video, we turned that shape into the “product” being launched. Hudson Square was no longer just a neighborhood. It was the newest operating system for work, culture, creativity, and public space.
The film played like a tech keynote parody, unveiling the latest upgrades to the district. A greener interface. An anti-rodent virus. Better public space. More reasons to stay after work. And, of course, 300% less pretentious than the Upper East Side.
The joke worked because the progress was real.
The video gave the BID a way to talk about civic improvements, neighborhood investments, public art, streetscape changes, business growth, and community programming without making them feel like a list. Every “feature” helped translate a real accomplishment into the voice of Hudson Square: smart, self-aware, and not afraid to poke fun at itself.
It also continued a larger content strategy we had built for the BID. In previous years, we turned stakeholder updates into entertainment through ideas like a faux HSQ QVC channel and Hudsy & Frenchie, a puppet-led tour showing people how to get to Hudson Square. The Trapezoid was the next evolution: a long-form video that could carry serious information through a not-so-serious format.
The video was shot and produced in-house by Six+One, allowing us to keep the humor tight, the tone consistent, and the production nimble. The biggest challenge was balance. It still had to communicate the BID’s accomplishments clearly, but it could not feel like a civic report wearing a funny hat. It had to feel like Hudson Square from the first frame.
That was the point. The video did not just report on the brand. It behaved like the brand.
HSQ 3.0: The Trapezoid helped turn a functional stakeholder update into something people could actually enjoy, share, and remember. It gave Hudson Square a way to communicate progress without losing the wit and personality that had become central to the neighborhood’s identity.
The long-form video also supported a broader brand transformation that continues to show measurable momentum.
Since the rebrand began, social followers grew 30%, four times faster than the previous year. Website traffic increased 90%. Pedestrian activity rose 12% year over year. Attendance at the Annual Meeting increased 53%. New business openings doubled.
The district’s perception changed too. 76% of workers and 82% of residents now call the area “Hudson Square” by name, and four out of five say public art enhances their experience in the neighborhood.
The ripple effect has been real. Major tenants like Google and Disney have established roots, Michelin-starred restaurant César opened its doors, and new businesses like CAVA, Port Sa’id, Kabin, Sweetgreen, and Joe & The Juice joined the community.
The success of the video was that it made civic progress feel like culture. It proved an annual meeting film does not have to be a formality. In Hudson Square, even the neighborhood update has a punchline.